The kitchen etc, is VERY VERY nice ! The counter is unusual-I like it. The color looks pretty with cabinets.
Ran over a rock at the stone yard--$1000. extra expense ? That's definitely something that I could see happening to me.

Wowza! Great combinations. I love the cabinets. Love the stone.

That is a gorgeous counter! Love the kitchen and what I can see of the rest of your house. I can totally relate to your rock incident. When I was bringing home the pallet of tile for our kitchen, someone cut in front of me suddenly and I had to hit the brake - sending the pallet of tile into the cab of the pickup. Broken back window and I haven't checked all the tile yet to see how much is broken.

I don't know about you, but I didn't budget for accidents.

I get so excited in the proximity of stone slabs that I can totally imagine that doh! moment of running over a big rock.

Cool countertop! Not sure what it is, but it reminds me of mudcracks on the floor of an ancient lake as the water dries up. That said, I don't think that's what it actually is. It sure is unique though!

Love it all! I could stare at the grain on the cabinets and the movement in the counters all day...

What are your pendants? We've been looking for something with curves in the design and I really like both of them.

It looks like you are a fellow Wisconsinite. Love the kitchen and stone! We should be getting our soapstone any day now.

Just came back to ask - what was that big rock doing right there in the parking lot? That looks like negligence on their part.

Thanks all for the compliments

thirdkitchen - The pendants are Kichler 65324 Spyro Collection

They can be had online for around $220.00 each

marti8a the rock was lurking in the grass at the corner of the driveway apron and the parking lot. The owner put it there so no one would drive over the corner of his lawn.

It was deceptive as there was a large asphalt parking lot and big entrance and all grass and then these two rocks in the corners. It appeared you had all the room in the world to drive up to the front door. Kind of an illusion. I actually remember seeing the rock on the other side but was too busy looking to where I was going to park and cut this side too tight.

Judging from the hole it came out of it probably was only sticking out of the ground about 6-8 inches. When I first hit it there was some noise and then somehow my Honda grabbed it and it came out of the hole as I was coming to a stop. The car kept getting higher and higher as I was trying to figure out what the heck was going on.

It does make me mad, the total damage was $ 2400 and so the $1000 is my deductible

As I was calling the towing company from their shop my DW was speaking with another customer who said she ran over the same rock the week before and caused $5000 damage to her vehicle.

Then when the installers we at the house I asked them if they heard what happened to me and they said they hit it all the time with the company trucks but it has a flag on it now

I don't know if it's negligence on their part but I wasn't going to make any waves until we had our tops installed.

I haven't been billed the remaining 50% so I am going to make it clear to the owner when i get the invoice that his stupid rock cost me a $1000

Yeah, that is just wrong. If it happens all the time it's just not right to leave it there for the next person to run over. Seems like they would have moved it by now. WTH? So sorry this happened to you.

Karin,

I saw another post about super white and you indicated you were a geologist. I was going to post our stone in that thread but here you are.

So I was going to pose the question to you, what do you think this is. Some say granite, others soapstone and some call it a serpentine. Our fabricator said it was part soapstone and part granite.

Feeling it the broad green areas feel very soft to the touch like soapstone but then the brown veins are feel very hard. All in all it has a very natural feel to it, sheds water, doesn't seem like it will absorb anything.

I do have some left over pieces so i am going to do your bottle test

thanks for any insight you can give

I think I have seen your stone before, labeled Malibu Green soapstone.

Oh my gosh, what a beautiful counter! It's just like one that my friend was longing for, but she opted for something less bold and regrets it now. The whole kitchen looks beautifully warm and functional. I like the open shelves to the right of the far window, and those classy pendants. May I ask what kind of sink that is? Looks like just what I'm after.

The countertop is indeed a stunner! Very nice -- me like!

Beautiful! I love how even the edges have so much veining visible.

justmakeit the sink is the Blanco Silgranite in Cafe brown. It's a super single bowl

It looks like an insane calligrapher struck the counters!

Very pretty.

Gorgeous! Really love the cabinets and the stone, whatever it is.

You could have been talking about my house, except our tri-level is 1970. We've got the same layout you had: small dinning room & kitchen with living room adjacent. Still haven't figured out how to open it all up. I'd love to see your floorplan if you have it digital.

DP,

Yes, try the glass test - try it on both the green parts and the veins.
That is cute that your fabricator said it is part granite and part soapstone. Let's see... oh yeah, that's impossible! :)

By googling around, it looks like this really is soapstone, judging by one site that said the color will darken over time, which would not happen to a granite-type rock. That, plus your description that it has a soft feeling, makes it sound like soapstone.

But the brown veins are likely filled in by another mineral, which is most likely harder. It could be something like calcite, or perhaps quartz. So definitely try the glass scratch on both parts if you can.

Let us know what you find out!

Karin

Karin,

I agree all my research has it as a soapstone. I will do

the glass test tonight and let you know tomorrow the results

tami78 I have a digital floor plan somewhere on one of my computers as soon as I find it I will post.

I did find a partial layout prior to remodeling the kitchen along with an after

Before

This is the wall that was between the kitchen and dining room that we removed

This is about where the new door is and the rangetop is a little right of where the sink is in this picture

This small closet in the background is where the open shelf is and the refrigerator

The cabinets shown to the right in this pic is where part of the wall was removed to open the space from the new kitchen dining to the living room. The end of the new island would line up to about the right end of the frig in this pic

Your photo made me smile--I used this stone in my previous kitchen. Mine was called Malibu Green and M. Texeira called it a soapstone, but a very hard one. It was impregnated with sealer at the quarry and was virtually bombproof. Nothing chipped, scratched, etched or stained it. You could not get oil to stick to it like other soapstone. And it doesn't photograph very well--it's much more beautiful in persn. I know you'll enjoy it.

pamela1

If it is a soapstone and it appears to be from my research, it does seem to be indestructible. Not sure if it has sealer or anything on it but water, oil, coffee and everything else seems to wipe right off.

We are enjoying it, our only concern is we are afraid to put anything hot on it so we are using hot pads till we become brave enough

Hi dp, I remember when you first posted your original layout - it was almost identical with mine. (and my new layout is very similar to yours)
I love the changes you made and the style and colors you chose. I'm sure you are loving the kitchen opened up to the dining room. Looks beautiful!

Karin,

I did the glass test on a sawn end of a scrap piece, the results are:

On the green part rubbing the bottle there we quite a bit of drag and you could feel it cutting/etching the glass

On the brown vein much less drag and the cutting/etching was much less than on the green. Probably a third less.

camphappy thanks for the compliments, hope you like your new layout as much as we do. It's so much more functional.

So, it's kind of reverse of what I thought would happen

Hmm, that is also not what I'd expect but it is good news since the rock is mostly the green, harder stuff.

Thanks for reporting back!

Karin

That countertop is fascinating. I have to keep scrolling back up to look at it. I also love the wood grain on your island. Show stopper!!!